Thread: hello fellow rodders

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Hi my name is Roger and i love the sight.Ijust recently aquired a 1949 plymouth club coupe. it is all original except for the paint job.it however has no interior, it came with interior out of a 87 monte carlo,and old school shag interior so the guy i got it from removed it. it has the original flathead 6 that is actually in good running condition.i would like to know how hard is it going to be to put a v8 into it being that there isnt much room do i have to use a sub frame? i would like to put a plymouth 383 into it ! is this feasable?thanks 49

Hi Roger, welcome. Sounds like a nice little find there. I will let the true Mopar guys on here give you the straight scoop, but the little I know is the engine compartments on these are sort of tight. They were built to accomodate the straight 6, so I think things like the steering box may be something you have to get around.

But, like I said, my knowledge is very limited, and we may both find out differently from the guys who know for sure. How about posting some pix of now and as you go? We love pictures.


Don

You know thats what i thought there isnt much room in there especialy for an older mopar motor like the 383 but i sure hate to put a chevy in it although its probably practical!

Hello Roger &
Welcome to CHR
I like Don am not sure you can shoe horn a 383 in there but ther are people here that will know just how much room you have. Good luck with your project. Post pictures
Charlie

Hey Roger. Anything will fit into anything with a cutting torch, sawzall, MIG and a good hand grinder You should be aware that you can move the motor to the passenger side of the vehicle to clear steering, etc. As I stated in an earlier post, if you go to the boneyard with a tape measure, you'll find some OEM Mopars with the motor offset by as much as 3". If you decide to do it this way, just keep the centerline of the motor/trans PARALLEL with the centerline of the car.

thats definatly better than a chevy in a plymouth!

Originally Posted by 49 club coupe

thats definatly better than a chevy in a plymouth!

You better believe that, Roger! That particular swap is probably illegal, and maybe sinful to boot.

I think I may be the only man in the world who likes my ideas, but I'd say find yourself a decent Dodge or Plymouth "Slant Six". If you're real lucky you might stumble onto one of the die-cast aluminum blocks, although they're rare now.

These engines can be made to look really handsome, and they can be made to REALLY RUN! There are nice dress-up pieces available for them and they respond well to power enhancing modifications, some of which are quite simple and inexpensive and can be accomplished by just about anybody on his or her own workbench (things like modifying the stock intake manifold to accept a two barrel or four barrel corburetor ..... stuff like that).

The engine will fit in there very nicely and you won't open up nearly as many cans of worms as you would by stuffing a much heavier, much wider big block Mopar in there, and you would still be keeping it in the Chrysler family.

If you should decide to go the slant six route, pop me a private message and I'll send you some how-to stuff.

I have used several of these engines and I really like 'em, and on several occasions I have had a passenger say "This is a SIX?"

However you decide to go, good luck with the project.

Jim

Yup, I had a Valiant I used for a work car years ago with a slant 6. Little bugger would scoot pretty good for a 6. Nice thing is that today, all engines have become cool. Guys are using engines we used to toss out, and they are suddenly the thing to have.


Don

I was in charge of the truck shop where I worked. We had what they called tuggers We used them to pull wagons on coils or ingots in the plant the airports use them to pull planes around All had slant 6s. Hard to beat them.

If you swap in a rack and pinion steering setup a 383 might fit. It's the steering box that's in the way of most any V8, it's mounted inside the frame rail.

Originally Posted by 49 club coupe

thats definatly better than a chevy in a plymouth!

Absolutely,

I have a 48 DeSoto, that came with the flat 6. I have a 392 Hemi in it. Required small amount of cutting (lower part of each fender well).
I have complete 291 Hemi fos sale cheap.

WELCOME TO HERE.

Jack

HEY,

I have a sbc in my 1941 plymouth and it looks great!

thanks for all of the insight.the original engine runs well so maybe ill drive it that way for now .i do have a winnebago 318 and 727a but not sure where to go .i actually just got it home today ill post pics later this week

Originally Posted by lowstreet

HEY,

I have a sbc in my 1941 plymouth and it looks great!

That's just not right..

Jack

how much for the 291 and what shape is it in?